Propinquity
by gwenstacey
Summary: When Hinata is married off to Itachi in exchange for information on the Akatsuki she must learn to live with a husband that is the opposite of everything she had wanted. Series of one-shots based on Freedom.
1. Wedding Night

AN: Finally starting to get these up! These will be on chronological order stretching from chp1 (the beginning) to chp2 (the end) of Freedom unless otherwise noted. I would just like to mention, that I've done my best to keep Hinata and Itachi's verbal dialogue in character. I have, however, taken some liberties with their internal monologue, which I think is acceptable given that Kishimoto has never given us a glimpse inside their heads (except for flashbacks of course)

Itachi watched the young woman standing by the door from his position on the bed as she looked about ready to faint merely because of his presence. Had she been anyone other than his new wife, he might have found the situation highly entertaining. Of course, the fact that she had basically been pushed through the door by the two Konoha councilors only to have it rapidly shut behind her probably wasn't helping the situation, not that Itachi expected any better from that pair of heartless old bats.

The girl swooned once before catching herself on the door handle and closing her eyes, probably trying to steel her resolve, and he decided it was time to do something about the situation.

"Hinata-san," he called to her. She made a cute little squeaking noise and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Y-yes, Itachi-san?" she sounded remarkably unsure of herself.

"I'm sure you're tired after the emotional demands of the day, would you like to get some rest now?" he stated, thinking that his obvious concern for her needs would put the woman at ease. Instead, rather than simply looking as if she would pass out, she now held a look of utter terror and had taken on an interesting green hue making it appear she would become sick and then pass out anyway, just for good measure. Itachi sighed and ran a hand over his face.

'_Good lord she thinks I'm going to rape her in her sleep.'_ he thought. _'how am I ever going to make this work.'_

"I can sleep on the floor, or perhaps on the couch in the other room if it would make you more comfortable." _'Please stop looking at me like I'm going to eat you alive. I'm _not_ the monster you think I am.'_

Hinata gaped for a moment at this statement.

"I, um… y-you mean," She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, refusing to allow herself to stutter in front of this man anymore, "You don't intend to share the bed then?"

"Not if you do not wish to. I have no intentions of forcing you." he replied.

Hinata released a breath she didn't realize she was holding at this. Time would tell if he was sincere or not, but she would choose to believe him for now. After all, if he wanted to force her, there was nothing stopping him.

Itachi was still waiting patiently for her to decide on his sleeping arrangements when she looked up to find him watching her expectantly. She stared for a moment before she realized that she had never answered his question.

"Um, whatever would be most comfortable for you is fine." came her answer.

"Ah," Itachi nodded, "I'll take the floor then. I'll just go grab the spare futon from the closet."

Hinata nodded dumbly as he made his way towards the bi-fold doors to retrieve the item in question.

"Itachi-san?" he paused and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Why did you want a wife?" He turned to look full at her, a bit taken back by the question.

"When Koharu made the offer of anything I wanted in return for information on the Akatsuki," he paused, _'I asked for the most unreasonable thing I could think of, because I never expected her to follow through. But somehow I doubt that will go over well,' _"I asked for a companion, I had no desire to end my days alone, and my current affiliations would make finding a willing mate difficult."

"So you got me," she stated simply, gazing longingly out the window. His chest flooded with guilt at her forlorn expression, though he didn't allow the emotion to show.

"Yes," he replied, _'I'm sorry.'_

She simply nodded once again.

"I suppose then," she turned to face him, "It's up to us to make the best of this now."

He allowed a small and rare smile to grace his lips He was starting to make progress.

"That it is, Hinata." _'Perhaps, there is a way to make this work after all.'_


	2. First Morning

AN: I had to squeeze this out of my brain quickly whilst in the middle of moving, so it may be a little sub-standard. I hope you enjoy anyway though! I should hurry now, before someone realizes I'm not lifting anything.

~start story~

Dappled light filtered though the trees and in the window to play across Hinata's closed eyelids and slowly rouse her from sleep. She yawned and opened her eyes, trying to get her bearings. As a kunoichi she was used to waking up in new and unusual places; but those places usually including sleeping bags under open skies, not comfy beds in tiny rooms. A sleepy grunt came from the floor next to the bed and Hinata shifted to peer down at the source of the noise. When her eyes landed on the man sleeping there all of yesterdays memories came flooding back to her at once and she threw herself back away from the edge of the bed, slamming herself into the headboard and clasping her hands over her mouth to try and keep her startled gasp to herself.

If the shifting around she was hearing was any indication though, she hadn't managed to avoid rousing the other. The slightly sleep-mussed head that popped up to peer over the edge of the bed confirmed this.

"Are you alright?" Itachi asked, his voice still thick with sleep and his eyes not quite focused. It took away from his usually regal appearance and for a moment Hinata nearly giggled. The sight was almost endearing enough to make her forget that this man was a dangerous, S-class criminal.

Almost, but not quite.

"Y-yes," Hinata answered him, dropping her hand from her mouth and once more steeling her resolve to not stutter, "Yesterday's events were just catching up with me, is all."

"Ah." he replied before flopping backwards onto the thin futon he had been sleeping on and groaning when it was harder than he had anticipated. This time, Hinata did giggle.

His head popped back up at this and he raised and eyebrow at her in question. She stopped giggling, but his features didn't look angry or unpleasant in anyway, so she attempted to answer his silent question.

"It's just that you looked so…so," she trailed off, trying to think of the right word.

'Human' was probably what she was looking for, but Itachi wasn't going to supply it for her. He reached out for the edge of the bed to pull himself up and frowned slightly as she immediately shied away from where his hand was sitting. It was frustrating, but he beat down the resulting irritation by reminding himself that she wouldn't be much of a kunoichi if she allowed herself to trust a well-known enemy so quickly. He was actually surprised he had made so much progress so fast.

"Come on," Itachi said in what he hoped was a soothing voice, "I'll make us some breakfast."

Hinata's eyes went comically large at this.

"You make breakfast?" she asked, sounding almost in awe.

"Of course," he replied, "Someone has to, and Kisame is a terrible cook." He smiled at her, hoping to lighten the mood.

It worked apparently, because she returned it with a small smile of her own and slipped out of bed to follow him.

Twenty minutes later found the two munching quietly on a breakfast of toast and eggs. Konoha's elders may by grouchy old bats, but they had at least made sure the small home was stocked with a decent amount of edible food.

"I'm not used to someone else making breakfast for me." Hinata supplied in her soft voice. Itachi was taken completely by surprise at this, wasn't she the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful clans? He cleared his throat.

"It would seem we still have a great deal to learn about each other," he replied. It was a leading statement, and he knew it.

"I suppose we do," she said, "with time."

He allowed a small smile and nodded his acceptance to this. She wanted to move slowly, and he wouldn't deny her that. She was willing to open up to him if given time; and at this moment that was more than enough for him.


	3. Koharu's Instructions

AN: This takes place sometime later in the day after 'the first morning'.

Warning: Contains hints of spoilers about Itachi's past, but nothing specific. There are also honorifics in this, something I generally avoid, but something about Koharu's character demands their use.

And it's short. Blah

~begin story~

It was abundantly clear by the look on the aged woman's face that the scene in front of her was not what she had expected to find when she came to retrieve Hinata. The two newly weds were sitting on the low back porch enjoying some tea and onigiri that Hinata had made and seemed almost comfortable in their silence, if not in each others company just yet. Neither looked surprised at her arrival.

"Hinata-san," Koharu began slowly, "I am pleased to see you are…well."

"And y-you as well Koharu-sama," Hinata replied, bowing her head in a show of respect. The elder shifted and made an impatient noise in the back of her throat.

"Well, come along then child," her tone was cold and harsh, "Gather your things and let's go. I haven't got all day."

Itachi frowned as Hinata nodded and quickly went to do as she had been asked. Koharu's eyes followed the girl and she was making no attempt to conceal the distaste she felt for his young wife.

'_They believe she is worthless,'_ Itachi thought angrily, _'These chose her for this because they believed I might kill her. They view her as disposable.'_

Itachi let out a snort of disgust but smoothed his features back to neutral and out of the glare that had worked it's way onto them as Koharu turned towards him. He stood and handed her a scroll.

"The information you requested," he explained shortly.

"Ah," came the response, "And when would you like me to bring the girl back here?"

"This time next month should do," he was going to leave it at that but the indignation this woman had sparked in him on Hinata's behalf prompted him to continue, "She was a good choice. Her quiet and pleasing manners make her an excellent wife, and in time she will be a truly outstanding kunoichi."

There was the sound of something clattering to the floor within the house, giving Itachi the distinct impression that Hinata had heard him. The thought almost brought a smile to his lips, but Koharu's presence negated the effect. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Indeed," she said before stepping close to him and dropping her voice conspiratorially, "I do hope I can trust you to keep certain facts about the past to yourself, and not allow your admiration of your 'quiet wife' to run away with you"

Itachi allowed the woman to see the full force of his glare this time.

"Of course," he replied coldly.

The woman simply nodded as Hinata reemerged from the house, a traveling pack slung over one shoulder, and made her way towards them.

"Goodbye Itachi-san," Hinata said, bowing slightly to him before a questioning gaze flooded her eyes, "I will be seeing you soon?"

"Yes," He flashed her a soft smile when Koharu wasn't looking, "This same time next month."

"Well, until then Itachi-san," Hinata said, turning to follow Koharu's already retreating back.

"Hn," Itachi smirked and gave into temptation, "Until then, Uchiha-san."

Hinata started and looked back at him in shock, but he simply gave her a small wave and wandered back into the cottage.

"You won't be going by that in the village, of course," Koharu stated, a note of disdain coloring her voice, "but it is who you are now."

Hinata turned to look at the woman only to be met with a cold, hard gaze.

"Hurry now," Koharu commanded, "I want to make it to our inn by nightfall."

Hinata nodded and hurried to keep up.

"These meetings will be fairly frequent now, I imagine," said the older woman, "assuming you can hold Itachi's interest, that is. You will be leaving the village with me, under the guise of being my traveling companion; and until I deposit you at the house you will be entirely at my disposal. I expect you to always be prepared to set out from the village at a moments notice."

Hinata listened as the other droned on with a list of seemingly never-ending instructions and made small affirmative noises where it seemed appropriate. Her mind, however, was settled firmly behind her, caught up thinking about a man with a soft smile and gentle voice who, she was beginning to realize, was absolutely nothing she had expected him to be.

~TBC~

AN: These "one shots" are looking more and more like chapters. Hmm. Well, they should be back to looking more like one shots soon. Probably.


	4. Turning Point

NOTE: This takes place about three months after their first meeting. No real headway was made in the subsequent visits, so I didn't think I'd bore you with the details. Please enjoy.

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The woods were deathly still, the lack of animal noises being the only tip off that something was there that didn't belong. It had been like this since Hinata had arrived this morning along with the rest of team 8, and it was seriously putting her on edge.

She scanned the surrounding forest with her byakugan once more before deactivating the bloodline to conserve chakra and swiftly moving to the next section of woods she needed to check. She was probably another twenty minutes from the central location her team had agreed to meet at and thus far she had seen no sign of the rogue ninjas they were searching for. Neither had she gotten the signal that her teammates had found them. They were here though; Hinata could sense it in the unnatural silence surrounding her.

She was about to activate her byakugan once more when something collided hard with her back, knocking the wind out of her and sending her crashing into the nearest tree. There was a slight buzzing sound in her ears as she hit the ground and she struggled her way back to her feet as quickly as possible, confident in the knowledge that Shino's bugs were rushing to alert her team of the situation. All she had to do now was survive until backup arrived. She sized up the three large men standing around her and spotted a fourth tucked into the trees to her left. It was with a sinking feeling that Hinata realized that in this instance survive equaled evade, not engage.

Keeping her byakugan activated Hinata quickly leapt into the trees on her right, watching out for any possible traps and desperately searching for a defensible position she could conceal herself in.

A slight whine in the air alerted her to the shuriken headed for her back even before she had registered them with her eyes and she quickly leapt higher to avoid the projectiles. There was no doubt in her mind that these men were both stronger and faster than her, but that didn't mean she was about to give up. She was a leaf kunoichi and that meant that the trees were like a second home to her, unlike the men following behind her; their slashed out head bands marked them as former grass nin. She should have the advantage here.

Hinata catapulted over another branch, touching her hands to the limb as though pushing off of it while, in reality, leaving an exploding note in her wake. She watched her pursuers approach the spot and detonated the tag just as they went to pass it by. She had to deactivate her byakugan to protect her hypersensitive eyes from the brilliant light the explosion produced, but the screams of pain that echoed from behind her were worth the momentary disadvantage. At least, she had believed it was, until a large hand closed around her neck and slammed her into the nearest tree trunk.

"Think you're clever, don't you little girl," The man snarled in her face, tightening his grip on her throat and causing his bulky muscles to contract beneath the heavily scarred skin of his arm. He smirked as she attempted to gasp for air, "Not so clever now, are you?"

Hinata fought the panic attempting to claw it's way from her chest and forced her oxygen deprived brain to work. She rapidly activated her byakugan and stuck out, chakra enhanced fingertips hitting the man twice: once at the elbow of the arm holding her, and again over his heart.

The man instantly released her, but before she had a chance to turn and run his uninjured arm swung around allowing him to punch her in the gut. Hinata was thrown sideways and found herself once again impacting hard wood, but this time the pain of her collision was accompanied by the sickening crack of her right arm breaking.

She managed to land somewhat gracefully on a branch some ten feet below where she had crashed into the trunk but her vision was swimming because of the pain, her right arm hung uselessly at her side, and three angry and burnt men were standing on the surrounding branches to effectively cage her in. Hinata held her breath and watched the men close in on her, even as their teammate's heart stopped beating, and tried to think of some plan that would allow her to survive a little longer against them. She hadn't thought of any solution when the one in front of her drew his kunai and rushed towards her.

The next moment brought a flurry of activity that even the byakugan had difficulty making sense of. A blur of black and red swam in front of her eyes as the bough she stood on trembled with additional weight, a volley of weapons filled the air, and the man who had been about to attack her was pushed violently backwards causing him to lose his tentative footing and fall from the tree. For one wild moment Hinata believed her team had arrived to save her, but her breath hitched in her throat when she registered who was actually standing before her.

"Itachi," she whispered, wide eyed.

He turned his head just enough to nod in her direction without actually taking his eyes off of the two remaining men. He needn't have worried though. As soon as the rogues recognized who this new player was they turned to flee the battle. Itachi effortlessly flicked his wrist to embed a kunai deeply into each of their retreating backs with a look of disgust on his face. Hinata watched silently as their bodies shut down and they fell, joining the corpses of their friends on the forest floor.

Itachi then turned to Hinata and bent at the knees a bit to bring himself eyelevel with her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"You saved me." was the girls only reply. She looked quite shocked about the whole thing.

Itachi reached forward to swipe a small amount of blood away from one corner of her mouth and graced her with one of his rare, soft smiles.

"Did you hit your head at all?"

Hinata shook her head in the negative, still trying to make sense of the situation.

"N-no," she answered, "just the rest of me. Why did you save me?"

Itachi carefully maneuvered Hinata into a secure sitting position on the branch, just incase she was injured worse than she appeared to be, and placed himself opposite her before answering.

"I was close by and heard the battle. I also recognized your chakra signature. When I realized your team was to far off to render any immediate assistance I came myself."

"My team!" Hinata started and went to stand before Itachi tugged at the edge of her jacket to make her sit back down.

"They are still another five minutes from our location." He assured her.

"Oh," Hinata relaxed a bit before looking over at him, "You still haven't really answered my question though. Why did you feel the need to help me?"

Itachi looked confused by her question but did his best to answer anyway.

"You are my wife," he stated slowly but not unkindly, "And even if our marriage is not a traditional one I did still vow to protect you when it is within my power. That and," he looked away, seemingly embarrassed, "I would miss our time together should something happen to you."

Hinata sat dumbstruck for a moment before she was able to respond.

"But all I've done is stare at you for three months!" she exclaimed, now even more confused than when they had started.

"You are quiet," Itachi nodded, "You may not say much, but you don't condemn me either. I can appreciate your shy disposition, it is a part of who you are. But you also have a firmness of character and a great capacity for love and forgiveness that one seldom finds, especially among shinobi. It is these things that I would regret in your absence, even if you do just stare at me."

He smiled playfully at her and Hinata turned bright red in embarrassment at this assessment of her.

Itachi stood then but motioned for her to stay seated.

"I need to be going now, your team is close. Until next time Hinata-chan." he nodded and was about to leave when she called out to him.

"Itachi-san!" He turned to look at her again, "Thank you."

She smiled at him then, and he thought it may have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He bowed deeply in acceptance of her thanks and disappeared just moments before Kiba came barreling through the foliage, only to stop and stare at his quiet teammate in shock as he registered the destruction around them.

"Um," Hinata began, quickly formulating plausible scenarios in her head, "I can explain. You see…"

~TBC~

AN: Well I don't often write battle scenes, they tend to give me trouble, so if you see anything I can improve on please feel free to tell me, I'll appreciate it. Other than that, I feel the need to say it, falling out of a tree must be the most pathetic way for a shinobi to die that's ever been recorded. Poor guy, look what I do to nameless villains.


	5. Share

It was very late by the time Itachi slipped into the small cottage that he and Hinata used. It had been difficult getting away from Kisame this time and Itachi sighed as he thought once again about how he was going to have to be much more careful around the other man from now on. Kisame trusted him, probably more than the rest of the traveling akatsuki members combined trusted one another, but that didn't mean that he was stupid. He had noticed that Itachi slipped away at about the same time every month, and it was only the others respect for him that had thus far saved Itachi from a round of questioning. It was only natural for the large ex-mist nin to believe that any clandestine meeting Itachi was having would be to trade secrets about their organization.

Of course, Itachi new that all of Kisame's questions could be avoided if he simply told the larger male that he was going to see a pretty girl, but for whatever reason he just didn't feel like sharing that information. Not to mention the fact that Kisame would be eager to meet Hinata the moment he learned of her existence, and Itachi simply couldn't allow that. Not only would Kisame's mere presence frighten the poor girl half to death, but the moment Kisame saw Hinata's pale eyes he would know she was a Hyuga and therefore Konoha. Itachi wasn't exactly sure how Kisame would react to that bit of information, but he didn't particularly feel like finding out either.

He made his way silently to where a sliver of soft light was escaping beneath the bedroom door and cracked it open to peer inside. Hinata was already asleep, looking far more innocent than anyone in their profession had a right to. He slipped in, careful not to wake her, and padded quietly to the place where his little futon was usually set up on the floor. He was surprised to find the area completely empty.

'_She must have thought something prevented me from coming.'_ he thought, and hoped that idea hadn't shaken her already fragile self-confidence.

With a soft sigh Itachi made his way to the closet his bed was stored in when not in use and began to slide the door back so tat he could make up a place to sleep. He was stopped, however, by the sound of a soft voice calling his name and so turned to face his young wife.

"You-," she began before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as though steeling herself for what she was about to say, "You don't need to pull that out, Itachi-san."

Itachi found himself confused for a moment, thinking that perhaps she didn't wish for him to stay at all, before the true meaning of her words became clear to him. He tried not to let his surprise show on his face but was unsure if he succeeded in concealing the largely foreign emotion or not. He did manage to give Hinata a soft smile as he moved around the bed and deposited his traveling cloak on a nearby chair.

"Are you sure?" he asked gently as he placed one knee on the mattress. Hinata nodded.

"It seems silly for you to still be on the floor after all this time," she said before dropping his gaze and adding, "especially with everything you've done for me."

Nodding his understanding, Itachi slipped into the bed and settled himself under the thick quilt.

"Thank you," he said, and was pleased to see Hinata's lovely smile directed at him as he reached to turn off the lamp on the bedside table, the one that he now realized had been left on for him.

They lay in the dark for several minutes before Itachi broke the comfortable silence.

"Hinata?" he called out softly.

"Hmm?" came her sleepy response.

"What would you like for breakfast tomorrow?" he asked, and smiled as she giggled in response.

AN: Life, blah. Sorry for the long delay, but thank you so much to anyone who was still waiting.


	6. Lengths

The doors to the Hokage's office had never looked quite as intimidating to Hinata as they did at this moment. In fact, she was quite certain that only a handful of months ago she would either be running away right now or laying in an unconscious heap on the door jam. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to gather her courage for what she was about to do. In the end, it took a surprisingly short amount of time. All she had to do was remember how it felt to wake up to the sound of violent, hacking coughs and her determination was renewed. This remembrance held firmly in mind, she raised her hand and knocked on the heavy wooden doors.

"Come in," came the answer in the authoritative voice Tsunade sometimes used. The one that made you feel as though she had been waiting for your arrival even though you knew you were unexpected. It also meant she hadn't gotten into the sake yet today. Hinata hoped that was a good thing.

'_I'm not going to lie.'_ Hinata coached herself as she opened the doors and walked to the desk, _'If I lie, if I even think that what I'm saying might be a lie, Tsunade will be able to tell. I can't afford to lie. I'm just going to be very careful about the way I tell the truth.'_

"Tsunade-sama," Hinata said, stopping in front of the desk and bowing respectfully.

"Hinata, what brings you here today? I don't usually see you without having summoned you myself."

Hinata swallowed thickly and nodded. _'Don't lie.'_

"I was hoping to get your help with something, actually." She answered. Tsunade looked intrigued and nodded for her to continue. "I make medicines, herbs and lotions really, and I was looking for something that might help someone I've met on my trips with Lady Koharu. The problem is that I don't know where to start. I can't seem to find anything that looks helpful in the medical texts I've been searching."

"A medical mystery is it?" Tsunade queried, leaning across her desk as Hinata nodded, "Sounds like a lot more fun than finishing all of this stuffy paper work. Describe the symptoms for me."

Hinata spared a worried glance for the mountain of files piled atop Tsunade's desk before following the older woman's lead and ignoring them.

"Well, it seems to be a degenerative lung condition of some sort. It results in deep, wracking coughs that often produce blood. These are generally followed by severe headaches." Hinata grimaced at that last bit of information. It had taken half a day of gentle prodding to get Itachi to admit to having them. "Also, it seems to be accompanied by general fatigue. If there are more symptoms I haven't seen them, and they haven't been mentioned. The patient can be a bit difficult and is less than forth coming."

"Which is a polite way of saying they're behaving like a stubborn ass that doesn't know what's best for them," Tsunade replied lightly while giving the sputtering Hinata a rather fond smile. Once the girl was back in control of herself, even managing to nod in acceptance of the last statement much to Tsunade's amusement, the older woman pressed on, "Do you have any idea what might have brought on the condition."

Hinata's brow furrowed as she paused to think. She had to tread very carefully here. It wasn't as though she could just say, "Overuse of the sharingan, especially in it's mangekyo form." But maybe she could get around that.

"I believe it's the result of over-taxing his body; working himself to exhaustion regularly over the course of many years." she finally replied.

"'_Himself_' huh?" Tsunade smiled wickedly as Hinata blushed all the way to her roots, but then she chuckled. "Don't worry girly, I won't tell your father. Or the old bat Koharu for that matter."

Hinata expelled a sigh and gave Tsunade a grateful look.

"But back to the task at hand, it sounds very plausible that regularly stressing the body could result in the symptoms that you've described so we'll start with that. Grab me all of the scrolls on the top of that bookshelf over there and we'll get down to business."

XOXOXO

Three hours later found the two women sitting on the floor like grade school students, a sea of scrolls unfurled in every direction and fluttering lightly in the breeze from the opened windows, several large and ancient looking medical tomes flipped open with papers sticking from various pages as markers, and Shizune standing in the doorway gaping at them in a rather scandalized fashion.

"Lady Tsunade," she gasped out, "You were supposed to be spending this morning going over the potential land treaties with Grass!"

Tsunade sighed and rose to her feet, waving a dismissive had as she crossed to her desk.

"I'm getting there," She replied, irritation warring with petulance in her tone, "It's just that something important came up. However, I believe we've made a good start and gotten enough done for one morning. Don't you agree, Hinata?"

"Yes," she agreed readily, better to be on Shizune's bad side than Tsunade's, "Thank you so much for all of your help Tsunade-sama."

She turned to make a quick retreat, eager to get away from Shizune's steely glare, but stopped when Tsunade called out to her, turning around due to her inbred sense of politeness.

"Make sure to keep me updated on the patients progress," She said, sending a wink that caused Hinata's cheeks to blush in a rather telling manner, "If you don't see the results you want with those recipes we can try something else."

Hinata smiled and nodded in response before once more taking her leave. She could hear Shizune begin a tirade on the importance of inter-village politics behind her as she shut the door but she refused to allow it to phase her or make her feel guilty. Tucked safely within Hinata's pocket were the recipes for three different herbal remedies and one very potent topical ointment and they did more to bolster Hinata's mood than anything had in a long time.

XOXOXO

Two weeks later, Itachi sat basking in the sun on the back porch of the small cottage he and Hinata shared watching her wade into the small stream that ran behind it. He absent-mindedly fingered one of the small containers she had given him, admitting to himself that he was rather awed by the tiny woman. He had known she was gentle by nature, similar to the way his mother had been if he cared to dwell on it, but this level of compassion had caught him completely off guard and astounded him. Not to mention how strongly it alluded to a very powerful intellect simmering just behind those pale eyes. He had been as tight-lipped about his condition as he could without crossing the fine line into being rude and she had still managed to come up with a way to treat it. Of course, she had admitted to going to the Hokage for help but that just showed that she possessed a different, even more powerful form of intellect. Not to mention a good deal of nerve.

'_But this,'_ he thought, looking down at the little container he had been toying with and then over at the others resting next to him, _'this is something new. More than just co-existing or toleration. To do something like this, to take the substantial risks that must have been involved, she would have to actually care.'_

He felt an unfamiliar tendril of warmth course through him at the thought and he smiled to himself. The medicine wouldn't be enough to cure him, he knew that wasn't possible without extensive treatments from an extremely competent and powerful medic, but it would slow the progression of his disease and extend his life a little bit. It would keep him alive long enough to fulfill his plans for his brother. It would also give him more time to get to know this surprisingly complex young woman, an advantage that was growing in importance to him at an alarming rate.

He was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of a large splash and looked back towards the stream just in time to see a giant fish land on the bank. He smiled and stood as Hinata lifted herself to the surface of the water and walked across it and over to her catch. As he moved to join her another thought occurred to make him smile, he now had something to tell Kisame. The other man wouldn't question Itachi's frequent disappearances if he believed that it was for the purpose of seeking treatment; especially when Itachi would have medicines to show for it. Itachi felt his smile broaden to a point that it hadn't reached in years. What a wonderful gift his Hinata had given him.

AN: I always wondered where an s-rank criminal would go to get medication for a debilitating condition without fear of repercussions, this is what I came up with. On a side note, Hinata was catching the fish because she doesn't want her 'patient' wading in cold stream water while she's there to prevent it but Itachi will be the one cleaning and cooking her catch.


End file.
